Maravi

Reconciling Chiluba with KK

Reconciling Chiluba with KK
By Editor
Friday February 01, 2008 [03:00]

It is true that some people may be wondering why Honourable Aaron Milner is so determined to bring KK and Frederick Chiluba together. We are equally wondering what Milner is trying to achieve. It cannot be denied that he did a lot of good work to help encourage and maintain unity among the liberation movements that were based in Zambia. But what he is trying to do between KK and Chiluba is not similar in any way to what he did with comrades in our region's liberation movements.

First, one needs to know exactly the source of the problem or differences between KK and Chiluba. If reconciliation is to take place between the two, the primary requisite is to deal with the cause of differences between them. If this is not done, the reconciliation will remain mere words; it will not be visible in concrete actions. Even biblically it is said, " Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed ( James 5:16). True reconciliation is to seek and accept forgiveness.

Therefore, reconciliation is the fruit of honesty, truth and solidarity. And to have meaningful reconciliation, all are called to maturity, tolerance and responsibility. We cannot have tolerance and responsibility when people think only of themselves and can abuse, misuse, misapply, misappropriate public funds, over a million United States dollars to buy personal clothes. This is what Chiluba did. He has been found to have abused public funds.

From what Milner is saying and doing, it is clear that we can easily be enticed to read reconciliation and fairness as meaning parity between justice and injustice, between honesty and dishonesty.

The mission of reconciliation between KK and Chiluba should be underpinned by the uplifting of the most trodden sections of our population and all-round transformation of our country. And above all, reconciliation between KK and Chiluba involves the nation, because it is the nation itself that needs to redeem and reconstruct itself.

What Zambia needs today is not Chiluba and KK to become friends but to ensure that those who committed crimes, injustices are punished and made to repay what they have robbed society. It has been established in the London High Court that Chiluba abused his office to benefit himself in all sorts of ways. And this court has ordered that he gives back to the Zambian people what he made them lose. Therefore, what the Zambian people need urgently is a repayment from Chiluba and not him reconciling with KK.

By saying all this, we are not preaching hatred against Chiluba or between Chiluba and KK. We are merely asking Chiluba to give back to Caesar that which he stole from Caesar. And moreover, what meaningful reconciliation can take place between Chiluba and KK without him paying back what he stole from the people? And we don't think KK really hates Chiluba. What we think he hates is Chiluba's crimes against the people.

And let KK despise Chiluba for his crimes and injustices since he cannot hate him. Throughout his political career and even in retirement KK didn't preach hatred, he preached love of the neighbour. This doesn't mean that he has friendly feelings for thieves, for those who commit injustices or that he won't denounce them and struggle against them as hard as he can.

What KK repudiates is crime against the people, banditry against public resources. It is not a matter of hating individuals but of hating their iniquities; it is not hatred of the individuals. KK hated and still hates the crimes and injustices of Chiluba and his regime. He has encouraged people to stand up against these injustices and to denounce them and many Zambians have done so with great courage and boldness. However, KK didn't speak of hatred against Chiluba.

What KK has been preaching is repudiation, rejection, and hatred of injustice, of corruption. And if he has to fight such practices, he will fight. If he has to fight the men behind such evil practices, he will do so.

And KK being a staunch Christian, we don't think there's any contradiction between this and his Christian faith, because if somebody says " I hate crime" or "I hate injustice, abuses and exploitation," we don't think that would be against Christian teachings. We don't think that denouncing and fighting against crime, injustice, abuses and exploitation among men goes against, or is in contradiction with Christian teachings.

As we have stated before, Jesus used to denounce crime and injustices and made some very strong charges against the Pharisees, calling Herod a fox. What's more, Jesus tells us we must love our enemies - he doesn't say we must not have enemies - and there's no greater love for a criminal than to prevent him from committing another crime.

We are not at all against Milner's interpretation of the problem, of the differences between KK and Chiluba. We were taught that there was a constant struggle between good and evil, and evil had to be punished. We were taught that those who commit crimes and were responsible for injustice, evil would be punished in hell. Could that be interpreted as an expression of hatred? Could one really stand up and say he is determined to reconcile the two - good and evil? How?

Could repudiation and punishment of crime, evil be said to be hatred? We don't think KK has any hatred for Chiluba. But he understands why Chiluba should be punished. And when a person with blood on his hands is punished, it is not for the sake of hatred or revenge. There's no sense in revenging. On whom are you taking revenge? What are you avenging?

Therefore, we sincerely feel that what Milner should spend time on is to ensure that Chiluba is punished for his misdeeds, abuses, corruption and other injustices. Chiluba's problems are not there because KK hates him. It is not KK who arrested and prosecuted him for corruption. But this is not to say Levy Mwanawasa, who initiated this process, hates Chiluba. Not at all. It actually takes a lot of humanity, a lot of fairness to get your friend and sponsor arrested and prosecuted for transgressions that you could easily cover up. Again, it is not hatred from Levy that Chiluba is today being prosecuted for corruption and other abuses.

Moreover, how many people is Milner going to reconcile Chiluba with? If he succeeds in reconciling Chiluba with KK, then he has to do so between Levy and Chiluba, between Chiluba and ourselves and many other Zambians. Chiluba's misdeeds and transgressions go far beyond KK; the man has offended the whole nation, he has robbed the whole country.

What Chiluba needs before anyone can attempt to reconcile him with KK and the people of Zambia is, as Levy had once advised him, to pay back all that he has stolen; then he can seek forgiveness and reconciliation. If he did this, Milner would not need to spend hours shuttling between Chiluba and KK, among others, to secure reconciliation - it would come automatically. Otherwise, Milner is just wasting his time, and his will be an exercise in futility.

Labels: CHILUBA, KENNETH KAUNDA

posted by MrK @ 4:52 AM